Late Old Japanese language

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Last updated

June 30, 2026

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Late Old Japanese refers to the period of the Japanese language from the 9th to the 11th century. This era marks a transition from Old Japanese (up to the 8th century) towards Middle Japanese (12th to 16th century). During this time, the language began to shed many of its Old Japanese characteristics and adopt features of the modern language.123

Key developments include changes in phonology, such as the shift of the consonant p to h (and w between vowels), which led to Modern Japanese having no native words beginning with p. Grammatically, while Japanese structure remained relatively stable with its Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order, distinctions between conclusive and noun-modifying forms of predicates began to erode. The vocabulary was also being enriched by loanwords, primarily from Chinese.123

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Japanese language
Literary history
…(up to the 8th century), Late Old Japanese (9th–11th century), Middle Japanese (12th–16th century), Early Modern Japanese (17th–18th century), and Modern Japanese (19th century to the present).
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…(up to the 8th century), Late Old Japanese (9th–11th century), Middle Japanese (12th–16th century), Early Modern Japanese (17th–18th century), and Modern Japanese (19th century to the present).
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